The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years, 2nd ed

By Nicolas Appert

Looking for a comprehensive guide to preserving food? Look no further than this essential book, which covers everything from the best materials for keeping food fresh to the specific techniques for treating a variety of consumables. Whether you're looking to store meat, herbs, or even eggs, this book has got you covered. With practical advice and detailed instructions, you'll learn how to preserve food so that it remains consumable for years to come. Ideal for anyone looking to stock up for emergencies or simply interested in the art of food preservation, this book is an essential addition to any kitchen or pantry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Dec 6, 2019
• ISBN: 4064066233006

Book preview

Nicolas Appert

The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years, 2nd ed

Published by Good Press, 2022

[e-mail]

EAN 4064066233006

Table of Contents

§ I.

§ II. Description of my Rooms set apart for carrying on the Process on a large Scale.

§ III. Of Bottles and Vessels.

§ IV. Of Corks.

§ V. Of Corking.

§ VI. The means of distinguishing among the Bottles or Jars, as they are taken from the Boiler, such of them as, from some neglect in the preparatory process, some accident, or the action of the fire, are in danger of occasioning a loss, or spoiling the substances enclosed in them.

DESCRIPTION OF MY PROCESS, AS APPLIED TO THE VARIOUS ARTICLES INTENDED TO BE PRESERVED.

§ VII. Boiled Meat. (Pot-au-Feu de Ménage.)

§ VIII. Gravy.

§ IX. Broth, or Jelly.

§ X. Round of Beef, Fillet of Mutton, Fowls and young Partridges.

§ XI. New-laid Eggs.

§ XII. Milk.

§ XIII. Cream.

§ XIV. Whey.

§ XV. Of Vegetables.

§ XVI. Green Peas. (Petits pois verts.)

§ XVII. Asparagus. (Asperge.)

§ XVIII. Windsor Beans. (Petites fèves de marais.)

§ XIX. Peeled Windsor Beans. (Fèves de marais dérobées.)

§ XX. French Beans. (Haricots verts et blancs.)

§ XXI. Artichokes. (Artichauts.)

§ XXII. Cauliflowers. (Choux-fleurs.)

§ XXIII. Sorrel. (Oseille.)

§ XXIV. Spinage, Succory, and other Herbs. (Epinards et chicorées.)

§ XXV. A Soup called Julienne.

§ XXVI. Vegetable Soup. (Coulis de Racines.)

§ XXVII. Love-Apples. (Tomates, ou Pommes d’Amour.)

§ XXVIII. Herbs and Medicinal Plants. (Plantes Potagères et Médicinales.)

§ XXIX. The Juices of Herbs.

§ XXX. Fruits and their Juices.

§ XXXI. White and Red Currants in Bunches. (Groseilles rouges et blanches en Grappes.)

§ XXXII. White and Red Currants, stripped. (Groseilles rouges et blanches égrenées.)

§ XXXIII. Cherries, Raspberries, Mulberries. (Cerises, Framboises, Mures et Cassis.)

§ XXXIV. Juice of Red Currants.

§ XXXV. Strawberries. (Fraises.)

§ XXXVI. Apricots. (Abricots.)

§ XXXVII. Peaches and Nectarines. (Pêches, Brugnons.)

§ XXXVIII. Prunes from Green Gages, and Plumbs. (Prunes de Reine-Claude et Mirabelles.)

§ XXXIX. Pears of every kind.

§ XL. Chesnuts, Truffles, and Mushrooms. (Marrons, Truffes, et Champignons.)

§ XLI. The Juice of the Grape or Must.

OF THE MODE OF MAKING USE OF THE SUBSTANCES WHICH HAVE BEEN PRESERVED.

§ XLII. Meat, Game, Poultry, Fish.

§ XLIII. Jellies made of Meat and Poultry.

§ XLIV. Milk and Cream.

§ XLV. Vegetables.

§ XLVI. French Beans. (Haricots.)

§ XLVII. Peas, Beans, &c.

§ XLVIII. Spinage and Succory.

§ XLIX. Vegetable Soups.

§ L. Tomates and Herbs.

§ LI. Preserved Fruits, Marmelades, &c.

§ LII. Currant Jam.

§ LIII. Syrup of Currants.

§ LIV. Ices.

§ LV. Cordials. (Liqueurs.)

§ LVI. Chesnuts, Truffles, Mushrooms.

§ LVII. Grape Juice, or Must.

§ LVIII. General Observations.

§ LIX. Practical Remarks.

SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF NATIONAL INDUSTRY.

BOOKS Printed for, and Sold by BLACK, PARRY, and KINGSBURY, Booksellers to the Hon. the East-India Company, No. 7, Leadenhall Street .

§ I.

Table of Contents

All the expedients hitherto made use of for preserving alimentary and medicinal substances, may be reduced to two principal methods; that of dessication; and that of mingling, in greater or less quantities, a foreign substance for the purpose of impeding fermentation or putrefaction.

It is by the former of these methods that we are furnished with smoaked and hung meat, dried fish, fruits, and vegetables. By the latter, we obtain fruits and other vegetable substances preserved in sugar, the juices and decoctions of plants reduced to syrups and essences, all kinds of pickles, salted meat and vegetables. But each of these modes has its peculiar inconveniences. Dessication takes away the odour, changes the taste of the juices, and hardens the fibrous or pulpy matter (the porenchyma).

Sugar, from the strength of its own flavour, conceals and destroys in part other flavours, even that, the enjoyment of which we wish to preserve, such as the pleasant acidity of many fruits. A second inconvenience is this, that a large quantity of sugar is required in order to preserve a small quantity of some other vegetable matter; and hence the use of it is not only very costly, but even in many cases pernicious. Thus the juices of certain plants cannot be reduced to a syrup or essence, but by means of nearly double the quantity of sugar. It results from this, that those syrups or essences contain much more sugar than any medicinal substance, and that most frequently the sugar counteracts the operation of the medicine, and is hurtful to the patient.

Salt communicates an unpleasant acerbity to substances, hardens the animal fibre, and renders it difficult of digestion. It contracts the animal parenchyma.[C] On the other hand, as it is indispensable to remove, by means of water, the greater part of the salt employed; almost all the principles which are soluble in cold water, are lost when the salt is taken away: there remains nothing but the fibrous matter, or parenchyma; and even that, as has been said, undergoes a change.

Vinegar can seldom be made use of, but in the preparation of certain articles for seasoning.

I shall not enter into any details concerning what has been said and published on the art of preserving alimentary substances. I shall only observe, that as far as my knowledge extends, no author, either ancient or modern, has ever pointed out, or even led to the suspicion, of the principle which is the basis of the method I propose.

It is known, how much, within a certain period, the public attention, both at Paris and in the departments, has been directed towards the means of diminishing the consumption of sugar, by supplying its place by the use of various extracts, or essences, of indigenous substances. The government, whose philanthropic views are turned towards all useful objects, does not cease to invite all those who pursue the arts and sciences, to investigate the means of drawing the utmost advantage from the productions of our soil, in order to develope, to the utmost, our agriculture and manufactures, and so diminish the consumption of foreign commodities.

In order to attain the same end, the Society for the Promotion of National Industry[D] stimulates, by the offer of flattering rewards, all those whose talents and labours are directed towards discoveries, from which the nation and humanity may draw substantial benefits. Animated by this laudable zeal, the Agricultural Society, by